Dubbing Specials

I noticed 2 animes I have gotten don't have the specials dubbed. Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero didn't have any specials dubbed, I also heard that Highschool DxD didn't either. I also got the Baka and Test OVA which also didn't have any specials dubbed. I know Freezing's specials were dubbed, which I'm very thankful for. I'm wondering why the others weren't. I don't know if it a licensing thing or just because you don't feel they aren't important. I know they are just a bunch of 5 minutes episodes but I think a few 5 minutes episodes have just as much right to be dubbed as a 30 minutes episode. It makes me feel ripped off when I spend all that money for a series and none of the specials are even dubbed.

yeah there have been several shows where the mini specials haven't been dubbed. I've wondered why but just figured that maybe since there were only a few minutes long that it wasn't worth the cost to dub them.

Maybe if it about money they should put on the back that their are specials. Knowing that a series has specials always makes me a little more interested in getting it but after seeing so many not dubbed I don't even care to look since I don't like reading subs, even if it a few 5 minutes episodes. Specials are always epic too since there always really funny…

Actually most of the series with specials are dubbed, it’s just been a few recent releases and odd exceptions. In general I don’t know that many series that have those 5 min or 3 min little mini episodes anyway so it really won’t happen to such a frequent degree that it would personally bother me at all.

Because, generally, they aren't a major selling point for the majority of consumers, and the cost of dubbing doesn't appear to be outweighed by improved sales figures.

Maybe they should show it off more. Put on the series box, comes with __ Specials. Maybe merge them together into one episode if they want to do it that way. Instead of 6 small specials make one 30 minute one. Would that help?

All you can do is let your voice be heard by completing surveys they put in the box sets, or complete the yearly survey they put out.
You make good points, but you have to understand Funimation has thought about this a lot (it's their job) if it hasn't been done there is a reason for it.

A lot of times, it's licensing restrictions. FUNimation tries to dub everything they can get permission to dub, but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way.

There have been times to where FUNi will get the home video rights for a series and get the rights to dub the episodes themselves, but they might not even necessarily know that the extra specials and OVAs even exist. Then when those specials do become available, many times it's too late to get the dubbing rights or to justify the extra costs in order to squeeze them on the disc in time.

Funimation not dubbing specials/shorts/omakes only started to happen around the same time Charlene left the company for a job a Viz Media.

I think Hellsing: The Dawn was the first case and a lot of fans were pissed off.

Maybe some weren't dubbed because of a lack of music & effects track but I have a hard time believing that in this day and age where everything is stored properly unlike the 90s or early 2000s.

I honestly think the main reason is Charlene's successors aren't that great at their job as a brand manager.

A brand manager should be OCD about EVERY detail concerning a title and giving it the best treatment possible.

Budget shouldn't be an issue because recording the lines for shorts/specials/omakes can be included in the same recording session a VA has for the actual TV series. Plan wisely, schedule wisely and in theory no VA would have to be paid extra. A VA either finishes their session early or uses the full-time they were booked for to re-read lines better.

And if FUNimation was so fussy about budget they'd be a lot more picky about the number of "Additional Voices" people they use. That's a minimum of $50 a person even if all they do is sneeze or say one word in their entire recording session.

The fact that FUNimation didn't even bother dubbing the OVA for the Fairy Tail movie despite being one of their most successful franchises in recent years proves that whoever was in charge of that release was half asleep or didn't care. If you get paid a fixed salary it makes no difference how many more hours you put into a task so I wouldn't be surprised if some employees half-ass it and use minimal effort when they can.

Assuming FUNimation wants fans to stop complaining and starting earning trust again they should start re-releasing any specials/omakes/shorts WITH A DUB for future installments.

e.g.

Hellsing Ultimate EP 9 & 10 should include a dubbed version of Hellsing: The Dawn

High School DxD OVAs (if separate release) or High School DxD New should included a dubbed version of Fantasy Jiggles Unleashed (shorts from season 1)

Fairy Tail Prologue Movie OVA should be dubbed and packaged with all the other OVAs (if FUNimation licenses them someday)

Unfortunately some titles had only one season and there probably won't ever be more. Meaning that the opportunity to dub those specials/shorts/omakes and package them with the next batch of episodes has been killed…

By the way I hope FUNi reps are reading this thread. This topic has been mentioned numerous times on these forums, the blog and on the facebook page. It's not going to go away so pretending it doesn't exist isn't your solution... Do something about it!

I love it when people who know absolutely nothing about how a company works proceeds to make wild theories/accusations about things and proceeds to assume they have the answers and implementing these ideas will some how make things better. Always provides a good laugh

Yeah because kissing their butt and thinking a company can do no wrong is a very healthy attitude…

People make mistakes. It's sucks and it happens. Nobody's perfect.

But adopting a "let's move pass this and forget it happened" approach is BS. If nobody actually learns anything from the experience or at least tries to do better in the future then it'll keep happening.

I love it when people who know absolutely nothing about how a company works proceeds to make wild theories/accusations about things and proceeds to assume they have the answers and implementing these ideas will some how make things better. Always provides a good laugh

Recall should've happened a lot sooner, or at least when fans started getting their copies 2 weeks early from rightstuf (so late September). Why wait until the actual street date before taking action?

Squeeze out a few more sales? Hoped that nobody would notice? (ignore/block the comments of those who did know)

Funimation staff don't seem to take fan emails seriously (to be fair most are probably a waste of time like requests for more Rosario+Vampire seasons but once in a while there are useful emails).

Whoever the brand manager of Sankarea was didn't bother to do their research and learn of the uncensored version.

It takes 6 months for a 12-13 episode series to be released on Blu-ray in Japan (across 6 volumes, 1 volume/month). Maybe all FUNimation brand managers should actually pay attention to forums like Fandompost that discuss Japanese home video releases…

Back on the topic of specials, if a huge blunder can happen to the episodes of a TV series, mistakes with specials seem very possible.

I'm not gonna deny that Sankarea was one hell of a blunder. something clearly went wrong on that one, and I'm willing to bet both sides were at fault with that one. but I'm not going to spend my time throwing out random accusations as to why specials weren't dubbed. Partly because I don't care, and because it's a long, arduous process from licensing a show to getting it out on DVD/BD that it could be any number of reasons that pop up during that time. That doesn't mean I'm brown nosing or think they are perfect. I don't think any R1 distributor is perfect.

I'm not one to rule out any reasons as to why Funimation might not have dubbed the specials, but going with "someone was asleep at the wheel" is a new one to me.
I'd also like to see more evidence backing up your logic about time/budget constants, I'm quite skeptical on anything you've said without links to VA contracts (or anything other then your own words).

Funimation isnt slacking, they dub specials & shorts depending on when materials are given to them, sometimes shorts come after they finishef dubbing the main series. Doesnt make sense to call everyone back just to dub shorts.

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